When considering aging youthfully, our genes (or genetic inheritance) are a part of the equation. I think of genes as a bank account that we can support with smart food choices, plenty of sleep, and breathing. This bank account is consumed continuously in life by everyday demands and stress, illness, substance abuse, wrong food choices, and too much exercise or too little exercise.
While it’s important to move the body and be active, it’s also possible to do too much exercise. We all have an exercise threshold which changes daily and as we age. The exercise that is appropriate for you on Monday may not be on Tuesday: perhaps you had a different amount of sleep, the weather is hard on you today, busy day at the office, you didn’t eat quite as much food as you needed. All of these factors create a variable exercise threshold. This idea ties back to Knowing your needs.
Another aspect is looking at exercise habits over your lifetime. Daily vinyasa yoga workouts may have been appropriate in your twenties, but as you ease into your forties, they may not be right for your body anymore. It’s essential to modify your exercise program for where you are at in the here and now. Again, Right thinking is the path to determining what works best for you. It’s about being and feeling healthy.
Many women are hurting themselves by exercising during menstruation. When a woman has her period, it is a time to be still, and quiet and soft. Since exercising increases circulation, it causes a heavier, longer flow which is depleting. Resting during menses will help keep you strong as you move into your forties and fifties. Also, if you are sick, the best thing you can do for yourself is rest. Exercising while sick, can prolong the illness and weaken you. We exercise for good health, but if we exercise at inappropriate times, we are contributing to poor health.
It’s not as simple as the older you get, the less exercise you do. It’s about finding the right exercise. The “just enough” nice glow in your cheeks exercise. Something you enjoy doing – the choices are endless. Try a new exercise on for size and see how you like it. Enjoyment is key!
We live in a Yang, active, go go go society of Marathons and hot yoga. For many of us, this style of exercise is too much and what we should strive for is “just enough exercise.” If someone has a circulation issue, they may feel better after doing an intense workout since it gets their blood and qi moving, but this injures them. What they may need to get stronger and feel good is less exercise, rest, acupuncture and/or herbs. Also, it may not be appropriate to do the pose your yoga neighbor is doing (it might not be appropriate for her either!) Listen to that all knowing body of yours and you are in your good and knowing hands.